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Rob & Rita: The Murray flurry and the Strombo mambo

Partying with Jon Hamm, John Legend, Megan Fox and for your singing pleasure, Bill Murray. The stars come out to play at the Toronto International Film Festival

Bill Murray at Buca. (Joe Scarnici / Getty Images for BlackBerry)

By Rob Salem and Rita ZekasParty Pooped

Sat., Sept. 11, 2010

You think this is all fun and names? Think again. This TIFF thing is a back-breaker at the best of times. And these are not the best of times. In this multimedia world we now live in, it behooves us to not only write about, but also record these events to post on the Internet.

At 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, as Rob was blearily editing his latest video opus, Rita, who was “proofreading” with her eyes closed, fell asleep with her feet in a waste-paper basket. Good thing it wasn't the paper shredder.

Rob had started his evening relatively early, heading over to Buca resto on King St. W. to grab a strategic spot near the door for BlackBerry's all-star after-party for Passion Play, and its stars Bill Murray and Kelly Lynch; her husband, its director Mitch Glazer; co-star Megan Fox and her actor husband Brian Austin Green.

The celeb guest list included Jon “Mad Man” Hamm and his girl Jennifer Westfeldt;Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter;Norman Jewison;Jeanne Beker; the O'Hara sibs, Marcus and Mary-Margaret; and the legendary John Legend, who did not sing, although guest of honour Murray did . . . it was that kind of night.

But a very civilized affair next to the organized chaos uptown at the George Stroumboulopoulos season launch soirée at the Hazelton Hotel.

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The invite called it “The Hazelton Takeover.” We called it Hurricane Hazelton. A cluster-grope of tons of scenesters jostled to gain entrée. When a limo pulled up, dislodging Steven Sabados, Chris Hyndman and Traci Melchor, their handler screamed, “I'm going to push you through.” Rita got in on the action, wedged between Sabados and Melchor. She felt like a human torpedo.

Once inside, we brushed up against Juliette Lewis, Jeremy Renner, Deborah Kara Unger, David Suzuki, Chantal Kreviazuk, Belinda Stronach, Carlo Rota and the cast of the new CBC series version of Men with Brooms, Joel Keller, Siobahn Murphy and Anand Rajaram, back from shooting in Winnipeg.

The Brooms debut has been bumped to Oct. 4 to take advantage of Battle of the Blades' natural lead-in. “It's a perfect fit,” enthused Keller. “And our only real competition is Monday Night Football, which is hardly the same audience.”

When a mass of the uninvited started sneaking in through the shrubbery on the outdoor patio, we hightailed it over to the Soho House Lounge on Spadina. Alas, they locked up the Grey Goose at 1 a.m., we were told by the gatekeepers, whose combined weight couldn't have exceeded 150 pounds. Rita could have taken them down.

TIFF co-founder Bill Marshall hosted his annual All Stars Lunch at Bistro 990 on Saturday. How many films would he be seeing that day?

Out and about:Zach Galifianakis, Juliette Lewis, Robert De Niro, Josh Brolin and Kenny Hotz of Kenny vs. Spenny have been among the roof lounge revelers at the Park Hyatt.

Had you been hanging out at The Fifth, you would have seen Mickey Rourke, Robin Wright and Marion Cotillard. But not necessarily in the same party.

Party picks for Sunday

• Who doesn't love a street party? No door whores. A free block party in celebration of the opening of TIFF Bell Lightbox will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on King St. W. between John and Peter. K'naan will perform.

• Will it rain on Norman Jewison's picnic? The annual Canadian Film Centre BBQ will be held at the old Windfield Farms estate on Bayview Ave.

• The Cinema Against AIDS Toronto AMFAR black-tie funder is at The Carlu at Yonge and College.

• The Best Buddies gala honours Peter Fonda at the Four Seasons Hotel on Avenue Rd.

•Barney's Version will be toasted at the ET Canada Lounge on the parking garage rooftop across from the Hazelton Hotel.

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